


Magnolias

by 35grams (caxxe)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-09
Updated: 2014-06-09
Packaged: 2018-02-04 00:04:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1760267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caxxe/pseuds/35grams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Survey Corps takes care of their own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Magnolias

 

                The sun baked the scouts' mud encrusted uniforms until they burned and crumbled at the touch. The ground sloshed and trembled beneath a volley of hooves. Hoods were drawn by the dark haired scouts first, especially after a soldier slipped from his horse, head scorched and eyes wild, having ignored his impending heat stroke until it wouldn't ignore him. Levi watched the soldier's squadmate  haul him onto their horse and thunder toward a nearby cart.

                The sound signal rounds were needed only briefly. The sudden maelstrom passed as abruptly as it had appeared, leaving the sodden expedition under the scorching heel of the afternoon sun.

                He saw the wisp and curl of each blade of grass that whipped by, counted each mottled stone in the towering wall, and numbered the frowns on every face in the waves of civilians that greeted the corps' return. Fifty-seven. Six smiles. Five were followed by a palm on a heart or a shouted name and a wave by a cracked voice and a frantic hand.

                He was otherwise deaf and blind until he stood in the barracks, assessing Farlan's bunk, then Isabel's. Farlan always missed the corners. Isabel missed the corners and then some. Probably assuming he wouldn't be allowed into the women's barracks to check. Assumed, he corrected himself. He became aware of the handful of soldiers in the room as he left, but more so, their silence. It continued as he turned into the hall. Conversations stopped. Eyes blew open, crowds parted.

                He tended to the horses until the sun kissed Wall Maria and slipped behind her. The soldiers assigned to stable duty eyed him warily at first, but went on with their business before long.

                "Hey!" he heard behind him, "Missed you at debrief."

                Hange. He gave a noncommittal shrug and strolled back toward the compound. Hange followed, clapping a hand on his shoulder and squeezing.

                "Listen. Anyone gives you shit, say my name."

                "Missing debrief punishable by death now?"

                Hange blinked, taken aback at the easy answer, then laughed and punched his shoulder. When they neared the door to the barracks, Hange hooked an arm with Levi's and steered him away.

                "Not yet, " they said, "Squad leader wants a chat."

                Apprehension seized him. He hid the tension in his limbs by rolling a shoulder. "Do I need to ask which?"

                "Probably not, unless your face does that wrinkled potato impression by chance."

                "Bet you'd love that."

                Hange laughed and drew a deep breath. "I'd measure and time it, compile sketches of each instance, send annotated reports to the Commander and all the institutes in Sina for analysis, study, comparison- it could even help humanity against the titans! I'd give an arm and a leg if-"

                "Too bad you missed and gave your eyes."

                "Don't pin humanity's downfall on me, potato-face."

                "Wouldn't dream of it, four-eyes."         

                "Ah!" Hange stopped and let go of Levi's arm. There was the door. He hadn't noticed climbing the two flights or turning a corner, but there he stood, and there went Hange, hair whipping out of sight. He raised a hand to knock and froze at a muffled "Come in."

                A large map swallowed a swathe of wall from ceiling to floor. Smith stood with his back to the door, making sweeping gestures with one hand, the scratching pen and crinkling paper the only sound in the room. As Levi shut the door, his eyes fell on his neck. A hand shot to his pocketknife before he understood why.  He exhaled sharply, mortified at his reaction. Levi had steeled his body and braced his mind to kill a man who no longer needed killing for too long. He never knew his body to be so slow to adjust.

                "I'll be with you in a moment," Erwin said distantly, pen flying on the parchment.

                Levi stepped forward, bristling at the meeting's informality. He hadn't saluted a superior officer, nor been reprimanded for ignoring debrief. He was in his living space, no less, running a hand over his desk, rummaging through drawers, and peering into closets. Behind him, the pen slowed but hadn't stopped. He frowned at not being able to force his attention. He moved to one of many bookcases and flipped through booklets and tomes without enthusiasm, without even skimming. The pen stilled.

                "I don't keep the good ones on display," said Erwin, tearing himself away from the map.

                "Hope you're not referring to the dust," said Levi, wiping a mottled spine for emphasis, "unless it's grown sentient and developed a system of writing. " Erwin dropped into the desk chair heavily and rubbed his eyes.

                "Would take the edge off the paperwork," said Erwin.

                "Why am I here?"

                Erwin was silent for a beat before meeting his eye. Levi cocked his head, eyeing the sudden gravity in his face.

                "The Commander and I must report to the Capitol in the morning. We travel with a light guard detail," he said, and leaned forward slightly, "whose activities happen to fall under my jurisdiction. Should a member of that detail have...sensitive business in the city, the record need not show it."

                Levi's mind shot to dirty faces and quick fingers. Then to correcting fighting stances and pick-pocketing techniques. To an army of bloodied knuckles and hardened eyes.

                Erwin retrieved two envelopes from the top of an impressive stack. Levi's stare remained unbroken until the envelopes were neatly torn and their contents retrieved. He skimmed over the _I regret to inform you'_ s and _-in the service of humanity_ -'s, passing a thumb over two names. The ink smeared.

                "You shit on protocol like it's a hobby, squad leader."

                Levi frowned at his own wavering voice. He became too aware of the thumb stained with Farlan's name, with Isabel's. The desire to scrub his hands to the bone flitted through his mind.

                "The guard assembles at the gates at sunrise," said Erwin. "Give my name if they give you trouble."

                _Say my name. Give my name._ Levi blinked, one corner of his mouth rising mutinously.   _Stop by the teashop, Isabel, give my name. MP pigs frisk you again, Farlan, give my name._ It had come from his own mouth a hundred times before. It was a lifetime since he had last been on the receiving end.

                He made to leave, pausing at the door to throw over his shoulder, "Sounds like a line you throw around often."

                "It's a hobby, remember?"

                Levi shut the door, not bothering to catch the grin he heard well enough in his voice.

                The ride to the Capitol was uneventful apart from the sweltering heat. Nothing of significance passed between the two again until their return to headquarters.

                 Erwin found him on the sparring ground, molding a recruit's stance with mild jabs and taps to elbows and knees. He gave a more solid push to urge the kid along and retreated as the match resumed, coming to stand beside Erwin.

                "How are they?" Erwin asked.

                "Technique's shit. Right hook needs work."

                He didn't need to look up to feel Erwin's pointed look. Levi whistled sharply to separate the brawl and moved forward to correct the other recruit's stance. He returned and folded his arms, voice lowered.

                "Pissed. Confused. Know the worst?"

                The faces Levi had loathed most upon relaying the news of their friends' end were not the accusatory or fearful. It was the hopeful who stung him with questions of the outside, questions from those who had never seen the sun from beyond iron grating, or felt wind unburdened by walls and caves.  

                Erwin turned to him. "Envious," he said softly.

                "Read my fuckin' mind."

                Their shadows stretched far. Reds and violets stained the sky like a blooming bruise.  

                Levi shifted slightly. He caught Hange in his peripheral, running briskly with what looked like petals caught in their jacket and hair. Knowing Hange, he thought little of it. "How'd you figure there were others?"

                Erwin nodded to the pair of sparring recruits and the growing crowd around them. "I think if the titans were a bit more communicative, you'd be giving them lessons already."

                Levi gave him such a look that Erwin's laugh startled a nearby soldier. The easy throw of his head made Levi's leg itch where it used to feel the weight of the knife. He had abandoned it in the Capitol, praying he wouldn't make it out to be some symbolic gesture even as he recalled the direction of the wind and the smell in the air as it parted from his fingers in a curt clink on a filthy street.  

                "They'll be alright," he said, his voice a near whisper.

                "Of course they will," said Erwin, turning to head back to quarters, "They learned from the b-"

                "Don't say it."

                Erwin grinned and headed back. "You might want to visit the barracks," he said in parting.           

                 As Levi neared the barracks, a steady stream of whoops and delighted shouts echoed through the halls. The floor was smothered in pink and white. Farlan's bunk was overflowing with flowers, as was Isabel's. They were thrown into the air, blown into friend's faces and woven into hair. Songs erupted and soldiers danced in the magnolias.

               

               


End file.
